


Subtext

by Sebastina_Michaelis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, marth - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sebastina_Michaelis/pseuds/Sebastina_Michaelis
Summary: In the wake of a rather convoluted confesison, Marc and Nathaniel settle on how to proceed with their relationship





	Subtext

It wasn't unusual for you to feel a little nervous when you were going to see Nathaniel. You knew better than to think he was going to tear your scripts apart, but there was always a small part of you that thought, this will be the time. Although this time the anxiety welling up inside of you was from a different source.

When you resolved to tell him how you felt, you though things would come as naturally as everything else had. You were wrong. The timing always seemed to be wrong, or something would come up. You resolve to write a letter but your hands were shaking so bad the whole time you couldn't even read it when you had finished. So you then had to improvise. You found it much easier to weave some romantic story about the Illustrator and Reverser.

However, it hadn't occurred to you until after you had forced the story onto Nate that he might not understand what you were getting at. You might actually die of embarrassment if he just thought he only wanted to write a slower paced comic. Telling yourself that he wasn't that clueless was the only way you worked up the courage to even come here today. Although the task of knocking on his bedroom door seemed impossible.

You didn't know how long you had stood there, raising your hand every now and then but ultimately dropping it. Truthfully, you didn't quite know what was making you hesitate like this. Even if you had let your imagination run wild, Nate wouldn't really stop being your friend over something like this would he? _What if he thinks I weird?_

“Nate, Marc is here.” You start and glance down the stairs, Nate's mom was already heading to the laundry room with a full load. A sigh rises in your chest. _I should have know that was going to happen._

You take a deep breath and slowly open the door.

Nate was sitting at his desk, idly tapping his pencil on a sheet of paper. Music blared out of his headphones, but you couldn't quite tell what he was listening to. Crumpled up balls of paper littered his desk and a few were scattered on the floor near the waste basket.

The door clicking shut behind you felt too loud, even if Nate couldn't hear it. You lingered there, feeling more and more uncertain the longer you stood there. Was he in the middle of something? You didn't want to ruin his train of thought if he was. But you couldn't just stand there and stare at him either. For a moment you actually considered leaving and coming back later, but things didn't come to that.

Nate went to check his phone, and noticed your reflection in the window. He pulled one of his earbuds out and quickly turned around, as if he didn't believe you were standing there. “Marc!”

“You mom said I could come up but, I can come back if you're busy.”

“No, no I uh... was just thinking thats all.” He flips his notebook closed but continued to nervously tap his pencil on the cover.

The air felt heavy as you took up your usual spot to the right of him. Nate takes a moment to pause his music but you were both reluctant to break the silence. You slowly flip through your notebook to what you had actually been working on. It wasn't exactly close to being finished, but it was something to focus on. No sooner had you turned to a half filled page did the silence start getting to you and you blurt out, “did you read it?”

Color rises to Nate's face and his eyes dart toward the window. He stops tapping his pencil. “That's...”

You settle back in your chair. Disappointment weighed in your chest. Even if nothing came of this, you never thought things would be this awkward. At least no was an answer. _This was a stupid idea in the first place._ “Forget it... It doesn't matter now.”

“No I-” Nate's eyes meet you own. “I was just caught a little off guard is all. I wasn't expecting something like that.” He goes back to tapping his pencil on the desk. “It was really thoughtful actually. I was wondering what you were all worked up about lately but... “ He trails off and shrugs.

“Really? You thought so? I was worried you wouldn't get it.” You laugh quietly and shake your head to yourself. Things always ended up like this didn't they? You'd get all bent out of shape over a nothing and everything would turn out all right in the end. It was strange to think where you might be right now if you didn't have people like Nate and Marinette dragging you out of your comfort zone now and then. You'd still probably be writing under the stairs at school by yourself.

Nate takes up his sketchbook and flips to a page in the middle. He glances between you and the picture a few times before shoving it towards you. “H-here. I wanted to do something special too is all.”

He busies himself tossing out the balls of paper on his desk while you study the picture he had drawn. Both of you were holding hands on a rooftop watching the sunset over the canal. It was so detailed you found yourself wondering how much time he had spent on it; especially when considering all the other discarded drawings. “You can have it if you want.”

You feel your eyes widen as his voice brings you back into reality. “Huh? Really?”

“Yeah besides, there's others.”

You start to flip the page back in a fit of curiosity, but Nate quickly takes the book back and busies himself ripping out the page in question. “No! Forget I said anything!”

You found it hard to stifle your laughter as he carefully finished tearing out the page and handed it to you. His face was almost as red as his hair was. It was kind of cute actually. Usually you were the one who got all flustered. You felt more relaxed knowing he was handling all of this about as well as you were. That and now that everything was out in the open again, you felt like you could breath easy once more.

You can feel his eyes on you as you pull out your phone and carefully take picture of his drawing. Of course, it wouldn't be as perfect as the real thing, but looking at it filled you with warmth. You promptly set it as your wallpaper. You flipped open the front cover of your notebook and slipped the drawing inside. “Actually, I wanted to take some more picture. That and Alix said the traffic has slowed down a bit on the next exhibit at the museum if.. y'know you wanted to go. With...me.”

Excitement wells up inside of you. It wasn't like this was the first time you'd gone to the museum before but... It was almost like a date or something. You hug your notebook to your chest at the idea. Despite all of this, you had been looking forward to spending the afternoon with him. Going somewhere made it all the more special. “Of course.”

Nate smiles, but it quickly fades when he checks the time. “We should get going now then if you want to catch the train. “

You nod in agreement and follow him out into the hall, making sure to close the bedroom door behind you.

 


End file.
